Problemy integracji społecznej osób niepełnosprawnych intelektualnie

Abstract

Living with learning disabilities means experiencing a range limitations in everyday life. Moreover, it often means having to deal with being labelled as a some sort of curiosum. The notion of excluding people with learning disabilities from the society is not utterly remote. This is associated with a range of cognitive attitudes, including negative stereotypes and prejudices. Three worrying social phenomena, occurring regarding this social group, have been distinguished, namely social distancing, low assessment of skills and isolation. In the context of research conducted in Poland in recent years, as well as everyday observations, it can be noted that these attitudes have a significant impact on the process of social integration of disabled people, especially in education, employment and involvement in the local community. There are numerous indicators that Polish policy of supporting people with disabilities is not fully effective; this leads to wasting labour potential of this social group.